Washington, D.C. – A companion to U.S. Senator Joe Donnelly’s bipartisan National Suicide Hotline Improvement Act passed the Senate today. The legislation passed the House earlier this month and now heads to President Trump’s desk. Donnelly introduced the Senate version of this bill with Senator Orrin Hatch (R-UT) in May 2017 and that version passed the Senate unanimously last November.
Donnelly said, “As the suicide rate continues to rise in Indiana and across our country, this bipartisan legislation could make a difference for teenagers, veterans, or anyone who is experiencing a mental health crisis and seeking help. This legislation would require the Federal Communications Commission to review the national suicide prevention hotline, including whether a particular three-digit dialing number should replace the current ten-digit number to make it easier for those in crisis to connect with the necessary mental health resources. I look forward to President Trump signing it into law soon.”
The bipartisan National Suicide Hotline Improvement Act aims to reform the current suicide prevention lifeline system and Veterans Crisis Line by requiring the Federal Communications Commission—in consultation with the Department of Health and Human Services and the Department of Veterans Affairs—to study the current national suicide hotline system and make recommendations to Congress on how we can improve it, including whether to use an easy to remember 3-digit suicide hotline number to better connect those in peril to crucial crisis resources.
Donnelly has worked tirelessly and effectively to improve mental health care and address the scourge of suicide. Those efforts have included authoring legislation that has been signed into law to combat suicide among servicemembers and to help law enforcement agencies establish or enhance mental health services for their officers. To read more about those efforts, click here.
